Reviewing the effectiveness of electronic vehicle immobilisation: Evidence from four countries

Abstract

This article reviews the evidence from 16 studies that have examined the impact of electronic immobilisation on vehicle theft in the United Kingdom, Germany, Australia and the USA. Six hypotheses that explore how electronic immobilisers work were examined. The results show that 15 of the 16 studies indicate that electronic immobilisation has been successful in reducing vehicle theft. These reductions have mostly been larger for temporary (recovered) vehicle thefts than for permanent (unrecovered) thefts. This may also have resulted in a reduction in young people engaging in vehicle theft. Although some studies showed there had been displacement towards vehicles without electronic immobilisation, this was outweighed by the reductions in vehicle theft observed overall.

Crime prevention design in a vehicle registration system: a case study from Australia

“…declined by 45 %, while short-term vehicle theft declined by 79 %. This is consistent with findings on the impact of electronic vehicle immobilisation (introduced in Australia as a mandatory requirement on new cars in 2001), which has shown larger declines in temporary, rather than permanent theft (Brown 2013). As a result of these trends, the proportion of vehicle theft accounted for by profit-motivated theft increased from 14 % in 2000 to 31 % in 2014.…”

Debuts and legacies: the crime drop and the role of adolescence-limited and persistent offending

“…Crime opportunity theories, that is, rational choice and routine activities linked to situational crime prevention, have been applied via the 'security hypothesis' . Research relating to Australia, Germany, the Netherlands, the UK and the US provides strong evidence that the steep decline in car theft, often around three-quarters, was due to the spread of high quality vehicle security including electronic immobilizers and central locking systems, with tracking devices appearing effective more recently (Brown 2004(Brown , 2013Laycock 2004;Kriven and Ziersch 2007;Bassman 2011;Farrell et al 2011;Fujita and Maxfield 2012;Van Ours and Vollaard 2013). These studies posit that reduced crime opportunities simply made it more difficult to offend.…”

On the Origins of the Crime Drop: Vehicle Crime and Security in the 1980s

“…Preliminary evidence was offered that the Home Office played a key role in promoting security development. In the United States it appears that 1984 legislation further incentivised manufacturers (see Brown , p.12).…”